How to Food Style and Set a Successful Food TV Commercial in 5 Steps

Dubai Food Stylist for Production House

Caroline Ismail, Food Stylist at FoodArtConcept, remembers and summarizes how her firsts Food TVCommercials underwent …Days full of surprises

RESEARCH: Start by doing some research. Such as: who did this brand last TV food shoot? What is the competition doing. Research allows you to look at the bigger picture, be knowledgeable if asked about other brands and mainly to understand the look and feel of the brand you are about to Food Shoot.

ASK: Ask the right questions. You might be surprised but not all production houses know the details of your cooking needs. You need to know if you are allowed to cook on set, if you have access to a fridge, if no, can they bring one ? Ask to share pictures of existing cooking tools / section.

PREP: We always mention a lot of prep, prep time, it’s indeed a crucial moment in a TVC Food commercial, its not like teams can wait for you. Remember you are not the only one on set some crews are made out of 150 talents …imagine:

  • If each one of us is delayed by even 5 min….
  • Make sure, that received running order is up to date …
  • On a food set, running orders can change at anytime and all times…
  • so have your next 3 scenes ready
  • …You will save the day
Food Styling Cheese for Food TVC
Food Styling Cheese for Food TVC

RUN: And keep running. No joke, shooting a TV Food Commercial is like embarking on a marathon. We recommend you packing some healthy snacks and drinking lots of water. As much as the catering food on set would look tempting, you cannot really afford feeling sleepy, pick something light cause you are going to do some serious running, and also don’t forget to wear your best comfortable shoes.

CALCULATE: What about some math? Indeed math, open your excel sheet, start aligning the scenes vs type of dishes. If you are already familiar with the production team on board, it is usually a mutual agreement. If answers remains vague, multiply the quantities by 2.5…and if the script includes actors eating, top up your quantity by 3.5 to be on the save side…of course keeping in mind client’s budget and food waste.

At FoodArtConcept, we covered some impressive TV Food Commercial. Worked with teams from around the world. One main advice, once you embark on such shoot, you embark on a day full of adrenaline, wear your happy hat and smile…

It’s going to be a long day, very long days but you will meet some of the finest people @astudio @Filmworks @BeirutWorks in the film industry and at the end of the day, you are here to make it happen so let’s do it!

Once again big thanks to all teams @Filmworks,@BeirutWorks and @astudio it is such a pleasure working with you. Your teams rock !

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